Wallpaper — the real kind — is back?

If you’re old enough to remember when “wallpaper” meant something other than the background on your tablet computer, you probably know that you haven’t seen real wallpaper in decades outside of your great Aunt Lulu’s house. That trend may now be changing.

As noted by designer Teal Michel, wallpaper is cool again. While it’s been much more common to paint walls in in recent years, Michel says, “Wallpaper can be a major method of adding pattern to a room, especially a room that does not have much artwork.”

Wallpaper conceals a lot of blemishes

Another huge advantage of wallpaper, especially in an older or “well-worn” home is that it hides a multitude of errors. Instead of spending hours prepping the walls — patching holes and sanding out imperfections — with wallpaper you’re just covering everything up. No need to apply coats of primer to cover the kids’ crayon murals.

Probably the biggest key to successful wallpapering is choosing the right paper. Picking a pattern and color scheme that’s “hot” today might actually be a bad idea. In a year or two that wall might look as dated as your great aunt’s parlor, and you’ll be faced with the unenviable task of removing it and starting over. If it’s a classic pattern and color that fit the room, it can well last several years.

With some simple equipment and practice, you might find that hanging wallpaper in your home is easy, even if a bit messy. The key to doing it yourself is usually patience and a good sense for geometry to line up patterns from different rolls and accommodate uneven wall angles. But once you get the hang of it and it’s done, you’ll be amazed at how wallpaper turns a room around.